1. Field of the Inventions
The present inventions relate generally to eyewear products. More specifically, the present inventions relate to methods and apparatuses for controlling the deflection of a lens in order to optimize the optical quality of the lens and to provide a customized fit for the wearer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of improvements have been made in recent years in the eyewear field, particularly with respect to eyewear intended for use in active sports, including goggles and sunglasses. Many improvements have been made with respect to lens molding technology and fashion sunglasses as well. These improvements have been incorporated into eyewear having both a unitary lens and dual lens design. As a result, modern active sport eyewear is functionally superior to its predecessor eyewear in numerous ways, such as by maximizing interception of peripheral light, reducing optical distortion, and increasing the wearer's comfort level.
For example, lens designs for both dual and unitary eyewear designs can provide full side-to-side range of vision and good lateral eye protection while providing superior optical performance. More particularly, in a unitary lens system, the angle of incidence from the wearer's eye to the posterior lens surface changes as the wearer's line of sight turns in either the vertical or the horizontal planes. This results in disparate refraction between light entering closer to the front of the lens and peripheral light entering at the lateral ends. To address this source of prismatic distortion, U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,048 discloses tapering the thickness of the lens from the medial portion toward the lateral edge, the entirety of the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Further, various improvements have also been made in lens mounting technology that allow mounted lenses to retain their superior optical characteristics provided by their as-molded geometry. For example, the dual lens “Racing Jacket” manufactured by Oakley, Inc. incorporates a lens suspension design that mitigates any mounting stresses on the lens in order to allow the lens to float and retain its as-molded geometry. Such systems are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. 61/078,326, titled Floating Lens Mounting System, filed Jul. 3, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Finally, numerous modifications have been made to eyeglass and goggle products in an effort to make these products more comfortable for the wearer. For example, different materials have been used in the manufacture of frames and lenses in order to decrease the weight and improve the touch and feel of these products. These technological improvements can be incorporated into any variety of dual or unitary lens designs, whether for eyeglass or goggle products, in order to provide a wearer with a comfortable, optically superior eyewear product.